This is a general message forum for all football and other general posts. Images, banter and topic wandering allowed. ALL TICKET RELATED POSTS IN DEDICATED THREAD IN HERE ONLY. All ticket related posts elsewhere will be deleted.

There's a breathless hush in the Close tonight
Ten to make and the match to win
A bumping pitch and a blinding light
An hour to play and the last man in
And it's not for the sake of a ribboned coat
Or the selfish hope of a season's fame
But his captain's hand on his shoulder smote
" play up, play up and play the game ".

Surely, the greatest sport ever invented, in fact far more than just a sport. A sport full of characters, most of which possess an immeasurably greater amount of grey matter than your average football player and a sport yet to be completely ruined by money.

Surely, the greatest sport ever invented, in fact far more than just a sport. A sport full of characters, most of which possess an immeasurably greater amount of grey matter than your average football player and a sport yet to be completely ruined by money.

On that note I'm going to bed, enjoy the ashes & Enjoy your erm poem thingy whatever the f*ck that was

Let's hope we can see the new ball off, I have a horrible feeling that we will compitulate tonite.

But I can't say I'll be rushing to find out the score tomorrow, either way i coudnt care less.

There was a time when I did not get test cricket, that was in the past. Now I do and it has given me some great sporting times. If you invest the time watching and listening to experts, to understand the nuances of the 5 day game you may grasp it. If not, then that’s fine also.
I hope test cricket is not ruined by money in the future.

On that note I'm going to bed, enjoy the ashes & Enjoy your erm poem thingy whatever the f*ck that was

Let's hope we can see the new ball off, I have a horrible feeling that we will compitulate tonite.

But I can't say I'll be rushing to find out the score tomorrow, either way i coudnt care less.

There was a time when I did not get test cricket, that was in the past. Now I do and it has given me some great sporting times. If you invest the time watching and listening to experts, to understand the nuances of the 5 day game you may grasp it. If not, then that’s fine also.
I hope test cricket is not ruined by money in the future.

I can barely get away with watching a weekend of sport in my house let alone 5 days on the trot.

5 days & still might not get a result what a waste of time, stop for tea stop for lunch stop for rain blah blah u don't get the raw emotion like Footy & rugby the edreniline highs & lows, nah not for me.

Not to mention if it rains to long you get a mythical target to reach, what a load of old cobblers that is

5 days & still might not get a result what a waste of time, stop for tea stop for lunch stop for rain blah blah u don't get the raw emotion like Footy & rugby the edreniline highs & lows, nah not for me.

Not to mention if it rains to long you get a mythical target to reach, what a load of old cobblers that is

Of course you get the raw emotion. The fact that it's often preceded by long periods where nothing much is ostensibly happening only heightens that.

Watch the reaction of players and fans in any Ashes test and see how much it matters.

This is an intriguing Test. I stayed up all night watching the first day and, despite the slow pace, found it absorbing - proper old-school cricket. It was a shame we collapsed on the second day but it augers well that our three 'unknowns' scored the bulk of the runs. Cook (probably) and Root (certainly) will get runs this series.

Brisbane is traditionally where the Aussies land a huge opening punch. Those effectively finished us off in 2006 & 2013. The same looked to have happened in 2010, especially with us conceding a huge first innings' deficit when, for a while, parity, or even a lead seemed more likely. The batting of Strauss, Cook and Trott knocked the wind out of the Australians' sails and effectively set us up for a series win. The main thing is not to lose at the 'Gabba - the convicts rely on that flying start and the momentum it brings.

We have an interesting three days coming up. But if we don't get a wicket before lunch then I fear the worst.

5 days & still might not get a result what a waste of time, stop for tea stop for lunch stop for rain blah blah u don't get the raw emotion like Footy & rugby the edreniline highs & lows, nah not for me.

Not to mention if it rains to long you get a mythical target to reach, what a load of old cobblers that is

Of course you get the raw emotion. The fact that it's often preceded by long periods where nothing much is ostensibly happening only heightens that.

Watch the reaction of players and fans in any Ashes test and see how much it matters.